The Quest
by GodPen
Summary: "Who wants to go Questing? Join us at the InterGalatic Tournament for a chance at fame, glory, and prizes!" Just a yellow flyer, spouting unclear and overly-cheerful messages. But it attracts attention. Now, people from different worlds, even different universes, have gathered. What is the Quest all about? And once they discover what it is, who will be brave enough to take it?


**This is a collaboration between my fellow author and good friend royalrosie2000. How we write it is like this: We have no plans and no plots, it's all about adapting to the previous chapter. The first is already out, read here: s/9878246/1/The-Quest. I have no idea if fanfiction cuts out part of the URL, it's happened to me before, so sorry, but if that didn't work, then it's on my favourite stories in my profile page. She should have the link to this chapter, but if she hasn't I'll remind her. And the next chapter royalrosie2000 writes, I will post the link later as another chapter. Then when she writes her next one, she'll post the link to my next chapter when it comes out. If you understood none, of this, well, I'll post a chapter later with a link to the next chapter. Then you'll soon get it… I hope. Enjoy!**

(Jasmine's POV)

Her body tensed, preparing itself for what dreadful events she knew she would unfold. Jasmine Laeta, a woman the tender age of 26, with stockings, small black skirt, blue high heels, a blue top without patterns, glasses, and silver hair tied into a bun, a glittering silver purse hung off her arm, and measurements to kill for. Her face flawless and plastered with a business smile, made sure that no signs of her nervousness showed.

Though her hair showed signs of age, she had the energy of a youth, and nobody thought she was out of place. Many wondered which department she was in.

'_So far so good, glad this place is full of stranger looking people than I' _Half of the people that she could see were wearing all assortments of clothing, from punk, to tuxedos, to giant fur coats, some lingerie. In the building, there was no such thing as a dress code. Eyes darting, she searched for any signs of danger. While her search came up fruitless, she wasn't about to just let her guard down in this place.

Here was a scarier moment. Now came the authorization pass. Reassuring herself that her connection who'd created the fake I.D. was a pro, she didn't falter in her stride, and swiped the card quickly across a red lit surface, the doors glowed green, and she was shuffled along to the large glass elevator.

As soon as the weight capacity neared its limit, the doors slowly slid close, and the closely grouped people breathed a sigh of relief as they were finally on their way to work. Jasmine however, was still tense, disliking how claustrophobic it was, considering how hard it would be to defend herself in such a vulnerable position. A robotic voice announced that it was the thirtieth floor. Everyone else got off, all but Jasmine. Some glanced behind at her, pitying how she did not get off on this floor, because, going any higher meant she had… something to talk about with the boss. The doors slid shut, and the bump of the elevator told her she was going higher.

'_I'm now on the bosses floor' _The doors opened to reveal a near empty hallway, with doors lined up left and right. The rooms were all made of glass, robbing all who sat there of their privacy. Yup, this was definitely the right floor. Each room had a chair and a desk sitting on it.

Jasmine hurriedly clacked to the nearest door, and as there were no doors, getting in was a cinch. She plugged in a USB drive, and waited for security to come. And they didn't fail her expectations. A bunch of them were squeezing through the door one at a time, but Jasmine held out a book, bit her finger hard enough for blood to flow forth, and let drop on the pages. A flash, and two cloudy pink and purple Egyptian-like cats the size of pumas floated into existence.

"Enna, Rayn, they are forbidden from passing" And the cats swirled around with no real form, attacking the guards. They couldn't hit them, but the cats could. Slashing them to bits, they turned back into a white substance, and evaporated away as they were killed. But if the job were really so easy, Jasmine wouldn't have been so nervous.

**Thud, thud, thump**

There it was, the true protectors of the building. The Chimaeras. There were two, one with the head of a tiger, body of a lion, and a serpents tail, and the other with a cheetah's face, monkey limbs, and chest of a turtle. They were the hybrids created by this company, who made all sorts of exotic things to sell; animals, ideas, people, threats, and the list would grow longer with every day.

"Chet," Jasmine cursed, "Enna take care of the monkey!" The pink one snapped at the cheetah's face. "Rayn, the tiger!" The purple feline slashed at the snake's eyes. Jumping into action with complete obedience, the four otherworldly monsters fought, but while the cats were unafraid and quick, the one with a turtle's body rendered most of Enna's attacks ineffective, while Rayn was having a little better luck. The cheetah's heavy lion's bulk slowed it down.

'_We're losing' _Jasmine bit her lip, and gave a quick glance at the computer screen. 5 more minutes… That's when Rayn and Enna fell. The two chimaeras' seemed to know how to work in synchronicity, and together, they switched sparring partners with surprising speed, and the change of tactics unbalanced the cats for a second too long. They were crushed under teeth and paws, both becoming vapor again, and returning to the book. Jasmine bit her lip. Now what?

"Pretty good aren't they?" A voice. His. A man in a white suit and blue tie walked between the monsters, patting their heads. Two rumbling sounds were heard, supposedly purring of some kind. "Made them myself, and they are completely loyal to me. I knew you would try to sneak in here Laeta, the Silver mistress. There was no way you wouldn't not after seeing the prime bait I'd set out just for you" The Silver Mistress. That was her nickname in the Underworld, everywhere in the universe. She'd committed many crimes of felony, never been caught, and was one of the few people who could travel to other worlds and dimensions without a T-port, short for a Teleporter.

"Well, it appears you've managed to snatch me in your disgusting grasp. So what is it you want?" There was no way the man hadn't seen the USB inserted inside his computer, so he must have been confident he could get it back or destroy it.

"Little old me? I just want you to work for me, that's all" Derision leaked out of Jasmine's pores, and she gave the man a sideways look.

"Is that all you want now?" Wesley shrugged cheerily.

"Okay, maybe a couple experiments, but you wont die or anything!" Jasmine could hear the blip of the USB. A minute left…

"And if I refuse?"

"HA! Funny, did I ever say this was a choice?" Jasmine threw her hair back.

"I'm afraid I'll have to decline anyway" The Chimaeras' tail lashed out, crunching the USB to bits.

"Oops. Now what?" Jasmine gripped her hands and hoped that the electronically powered wonder had finished downloading everything.

"Goodbye Wesley. Nice to steal off you again" The president's confident smile lost a bit of its arrogance. This wasn't right. The great Laeta was supposed to be at his knees begging for him to spare her, he'd cornered her, he'd won, there was nowhere to go.

'_So why is she so confident!?' _He howled in his head.

"GET HER!" In his rage, he didn't really think about what would happen if he'd accidentally killed her. But it didn't matter. Before his servants even had time to bunch their muscles, Jasmine had already bolted in the opposite direction… As in towards the windows.

She jumped. Being the cocky bastard he was, Wesley had never imagined that anyone would dare attack him (he'd been so confident in his protection wards at the entrance) as he was the Underworld boss of Tane, let alone be able to get to the highest floor of his building. So, he'd never bothered to get any sort of strong protective glass, thank the gods.

Crashing through the frail layers, Laeta began freefalling thousands of stories in the air, but instead of bunching up in fear, she laughed and spread her arms and legs as the wind whipped past her. No matter what now, she would be safe. The two chimaeras' followed her in hot pursuit, but she just smiled at them.

"Umbra, come. Rid me of this filth" A black figure with a battered cape, and completely black clothes flew past her, sending another gale of rushing wind past her, and engaged in combat with the beasts. But you couldn't really call it combat. A writhing claw, made of living shadows, snapped open, and swallowed the two monsters.

Wesley watched from above, at first with glee, then with horror, as he realized he'd forgotten half the reason why Laeta was so dangerous. He cursed and swore, as he'd forgotten about her faithful shadow. No matter where she went, he was never far behind, cleaning up any human remains.

Jasmine watched bemusedly as Wesley jumped and turned purple in rage.

"Such a childish man," Umbra seemed to agree. "Shall we head home?" Whispering, the Silver Mistress recited a spell for travelling into a personal and sacred dimension. Her servant supplied her with enough mana to complete the poem. Bracing herself for her least favourite part of the spell, she closed her eyes and held her breath.

A cascade of water fell over the two, and Jasmine leaped out of her manservant's arms gasping for breath.

"Welcome back Laeta, Umbra" Without opening her eyes, Jasmine spread her arms and felt the comfort of towels patting her down. There were two children, boy and girl, both in butler uniforms, undressing her and slipping into warmer, more elegant and proper clothes. The silky surface of a traditional kimono was wrapped around her body, with the skill of a professional.

"Thank you, Kai, Sena" The two bowed in respect, the aura of maturity and age not fitting their image in the slightest.

"It was our pleasure," they said in unpracticed unison "We're glad you're home" Jasmine walked out of the entrance of the cave that held the portal. Kai and Sana were the faithful guardians of this realm, the one that Jasmine created for herself, the home she'd always dreamed of. First, there were plains and fields to grow all sorts of food, some names which she still had trouble pronouncing. Then there was the forest, where the inhabitants lived in the tree, and in the braches of Yaggisdrasil, in honor of some her favourite ancient Norse myths.

Where did she get the power to do this? She was the creator of the Book of Spirets, where old, young, any race, of non-humans could reside. In truth, while she'd come up with the plans to build this fantastic world, most of the spirits she'd adopted had created it with their own hands. All had come willingly, or stayed willingly, as sometimes, when some spirits had gone to find old friends, with Jasmine's permission, had brought back sick creatures, where some healing spirits would heal the ill.

As friends with the spirits, she could summon them if they were willing, as some liked to exercise, or fight to death. Everyone's tastes were different. Some disliked even hearing about violence, some loved it, some didn't care. But if they were in Jasmine's dimension, they all got along with each other. She'd named the place Sanction.

"Ah! Laeta, welcome back!" Everybody referred to her as Laeta, as in their language, meant of course, the Silver Mistress. "How was your trip? Did you find anything?" Jasmine smiled, and nodded.

"Of course! Who do you think I am?" Many of the children giggled, and ran off, yelling how great that was, and how she was the best and so on. Spirits assumed any form they wanted, young, old, it didn't matter to them, but they could only transform into an age they'd already experienced, so sometimes you could choose to guess. Those who assumed an elder form, nodded in respect.

"Welcome back Laeta" Jasmine nodded her head as well. After all, she wasn't their better, far from it.  
"Thank you. Have the children been happy?"

"Oh yes, they've been most anxious about the Aging" Spirits would gain most of their powers when they successfully preformed a ritual which their parents oversaw, but Jasmine had slightly changed the rules, at first it was just a suggestion, but now, all the villagers had taken to it, and Jasmine was the overseer of all the ritual growth dancing of a Spirit. It was the first stage of their maturity. With each stage, growing became harder, and only one had ever achieved the fourth stage. That was Umbra.

"Ah, hello Umbra" Umbra tilted his head, and stared.

"Thank you, I hope you've been doing well too" Umbra never spoke, but his eyes always were enough to communicate, at least, with Spirits. Spirits were the exception of every universe, where their powers reigned superior, but sometimes forgotten. But no Spirit would destroy their home. None.

"We should be going now, I have much to do" Saying goodbye, the elderly group disappeared, and they caught up with the children. While their looks were aged, they hadn't lost any of their powers.

(Umbra's POV)

The computer screen glowed, processing the electronic gadget inserted inside it.

"Please… Don't fail me…" There was a single file downloaded, which Jasmine selected. It was an old newspaper. Jasmine eye's skimmed over the headlines, searching for a single clue but there wasn't much. Slamming her fist against the wooden table in frustration, Umbra put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Jasmine grasped it, and acknowledged his efforts, calming down. Satisfied, Umbra returned to his spot beside his master. Then he noticed something, and pointed. One of the smaller sections had two names.

**Jake, Mary**

The paragraph mention something about them being successful at a job issued to them from a certain group… and that group was a sub company to the one who she suspected kidnapped who she was looking for.

"Umbra… I've found a lead on Jatur! We can finally bring him home! Umbra, this is a clue, we need to—" The door slammed open, and the summoner was calm and collected once again. It was Sana.

"Forgive me Laeta, but… there's somebody asking for you" Jasmine raised an eyebrow.

"Asking for me?" This was her private dimension, and only she was supposed to be able to locate it, and it never stayed at the same place for too long.

"Yes… And they gave me this" Handing her a flyer, the Silver Mistress read aloud

"**Who wants to go Questing? Join us at the InterGalatic Tournament for a chance at fame, glory, and prizes!" **There was an envelope stuck to the back. Jasmine handed it Umbra, and he gazed at it, then shook his head, handing it back. Umbra was a Spiret, Spirits that had achieved the fourth stage of growth, and the only one alive. The Book of Spirets was first created to doctrine all Spirets, but when Jasmine had… inherited it, she'd decided to modify things (She never really liked obeying other people's rules), so now, it could house even regular spirits. As a Spiret was a fully-grown Spirit, they had certain powers that regular Spirets didn't, and one of those was the ability to look for traps or curses, anything that could be put on a harmless looking envelope.

Unsealing the envelope, Jasmine took out a picture. Her brows furrowed, and her aura darkened. She held up the photo. It was Jatur. He wasn't looking at who or whatever took the photo, and he wasn't in his original form, but Jasmine knew him well enough to look for the clues. Unlike Umbra, Jatur loved to be extravagant with his clothing, wore silver jewelry, and his hair was always a spiky mess of light brown. A leather jacket, black sunglasses, a cocky smile, and tattered jeans, his whole image was screaming "WANNABE BADASS!" And of course, two arms were slung around women that made her want to puke. They both had too much make-up, proportions were outrageous, and there were clear signs of surgically changed faces. There was also a photo of a boy and a girl. Sana raised an eyebrow.

"That's definitely him. What shall you do?" Jasmine sighed, and threw the picture into the air. Umbra grabbed it, and it disappeared from existence.

"As these people have obviously gone through such trouble, bringing out such special bait, and even waiting outside for me, I can't really say no now can I?" Sana gave a smirk.

"Yes Laeta"

(Jasmine's POV)  
"I know need not say this, but do take care of the place while I'm gone" Sana and Kai lifted their heads, their right arms at their left shoulders.

"Of course, take care" They said. Jasmine nodded, satisfied. Those two would take care of her home; they were already in the third stage. Stepping back into the waterfall, this time, Umbra held his cape over his master to protect her from the pouring cascade of pounding water.

Stepping out, Jasmine found herself in a space of nothing. It stretched on for miles, but in front of her was a long block limousine. Umbra would like that.

"The Silver Mistress Jasmine?" There was a large man in a suit, and he held out his hand.

"Invitation please" She handed him the parchment she'd received, he examined it, and handed it back.

"Thank you. We'll now be heading to Fitzenfie" Jasmine eyes narrowed slightly. Fitzenfie was a country, but there were so many people trying to boast and show off there, she would be surrounded by stupidity for as long as their stay was. Whoever was hosting the games was probably trying to keep all the information to themselves to make it all more "interesting". Umbra ushered Jasmine in first, offering her any choice of seat, then got in after her.

"Please buckle up" Once they did so, the man swiped at the air, and pressed some sort of screen only he could see. A robotic voice announced

"Warp drive commencing… Now" Suddenly, Fitzenfie was around them, and they were in one of the public parking lots. Jasmine let out an impressed sound.

"That was fast" The man in the front grunted.

"Go to the front desk, at the very center of town. You can't miss it, they made a coliseum just for the games" Jasmine nodded, getting out. The sunlight was stronger here, and the town was made to look older, more traditional, wooden or straw huts, with nothing too modern. The few clouds that floated in the air posed no threat to the sun's brilliance.

As soon as Umbra shut the door, the car vanished; leaving no trace that there had been an expensive car behind them a moment ago.

"Shall we?"

(Umbra's POV)  
"Please proceed to the waiting area, the instructors will be with you shortly" After flashing their invitations to the person at the front desk, they'd been given the number four to pin to their clothes, and led to an open field with many buffed up muscles, and no brains in sight. Jasmine groaned.

"This is too easy! Why bother inviting me if they don't even try!?" Nobody answered.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! This is the qualifying round of the InterGalatic Tourney! I'm this rounds referee, Leo! Are you ready to play!?" Biceps rippled, mouths widened and scream in a frenzy, and Jasmine covered her ears.

"The first round will consist of a knockout challenge! All you have to do, is knock everybody else off the stage!" The ground rumbled, and a marble floor rose from beneath. "There can only three survivors! Ready? GO!" That was it? How barbaric, this was ridiculous!

'_This is an insult! I have deigned to come here, when my time could be used elsewhere!' _In anger, she punched the idiot who was charging at her with a battle-axe. Apparently, half the people decided to target her from the beginning, probably because of her size.

'_What fools' _Brushing her hair behind her ear, she harrumphed.

"Umbra. No need to waste mana. Just physical strength" Umbra nodded, and counted the empty heads. But wait, where were the rest of the stupid ones going? Someone in a suit of armor flew at her, and she kicked it aside. Looking in the direction the knight had flown from, she spotted a boy expertly sending man after man flying in different directions with well-executed moves. Flicker around, Jasmine saw a girl with considerable skills finishing others from the shadows. They were a good team. Then the boy turned around, and she saw his eyes. They were like the falling rain, a hue of blue that slightly saddened her. It was him, the boy from the photograph! There was even the girl too! Sprinting toward them, Jasmine grabbed the boy's shoulder.

"OI! You! Jake! Do you know the name Jatur?" The boy spun around, his mouth agape with surprise.

"W-what? How— when did you get behind me?" Jasmine shook his shoulder, and asked again. The boy just tried to shove her away, but she refused to give in. She needed to know what connection she had with her little brother.

"Answer me!" He grunted, and reached for his pocket. Listening to her intuition, she jumped back, right before a… Spork? swept a millimeter past her eyes.

Jasmine didn't bother turning, Umbra would already have taken care of the girl.

"DO. YOU. KNOW—"

"AND WE HAVE OUR WINNERS! JASMINE, JAKE, AND MAAARY! THAT'S ALL FOR TODAY! PLEASE COME BACK TOMORROW FOR THE NEXT ROUND! WE'RE GONNA HAVE A NON-VIOLENT PUZZLE TO SOLVE!" Leo waved his finger. "AND I MEAN, ABSOLUTELY NO VIOLENCE! OTHERWISE, YOU'LL HAVE TO BE DISQUALIFIED!" Jasmine swore, and let go of whom she suspected was Jake.

"Come with me, I have questions I need to ask you" Then she spun in a circle, as the girl, Mary, lunged at her with a wickedly sharp knife.

"Get away from him! Why should we even talk to you?"

"Aw, Mary, I'm so glad you care about me"

"Shut up!" Jasmine glanced at Umbra, who looked… surprised? Had this girl actually run by Umbra?

"You. Girl. Mary. How long have you been trained?" Mary growled.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play with me, how long have you been trained as an assassin?" Mary paled, and Jake lost his joking smile.

"How do you know that?"

"Long story, but if you would come with me, I can—"

"No. I'm not about to go with some stranger… who knows about Jake and I"

"I wasn't asking for permission" The air tensed, and Jasmine was ready to call Umbra to knock them out for her, when Leo, walked in between them.

"Dear contestants, I'm afraid I'll have to disqualify you if you don't break it up" Jasmine glared.

"Silence you! I—" But to the Silver Mistress' surprise, Umbra stepped in front of her, holding his arm out in warning.

"Umbra?" But the Spiret just shook his head. "Not here" his body language seemed to say.

"Fine. I'll retreat for today. I look forward to seeing you again Jake, Mary"

**AAAAAND…. That was my very first Misc. Hope you guys liked, if anything's to confusing, then please don't hesitate to review and tell me! I'll be sure to change that! **

**- Justin, Lover of anime, enemy of haters, and family to all my otaku brothers and sisters. Welcome to my world! XD**


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